This Friday, January 17th on Sex Out Loud radio I’m live talking about polyamory, non-monogamy, the current reality of relationships and how we can change future ideas about what is a healthy and sustainable norm. Dr. Eli Sheff returns to the show having just released her book “The Polyamorists Next Door: Inside Multiple Partner Relationships and Families“, a culmination of her 15 years of research on the topic. We also have Anita Wagner Illig, founder of Practical Polyamory, a leader and educator whose work has provided many resources to people.

This week’s show is LIVE, which means we’ll be giving away a Sportsheets prize to a lucky fan. Find out all the ways to listen here so you can call in with questions and comments at 1-866-472-5788, join the discussion on Facebook or Twitter, or e-mail me via tristan(at)puckerup.com and I’ll read them live on the air – you could be chosen to win!

Anita Wagner Illig is a thought leader, coach, writer, spokesperson and educator on polyamory, relationship choice and families of the heart. She serves on the Advisory Council of The Woodhull Sexual Freedom Alliance, is a past organizer of the Polyamory Leadership Summit, is an active member of the Polyamory Leadership Network, and also serves as polyamory community advisor to CARAS – the Community-Academic Consortium for Research on Alternative Sexualities. She is a faculty member at KinkAcademy.com and PassionateU.com. She has served as a member of the Board of Directors of Loving More® and Unitarian Universalists for Polyamory Awareness, and is co-founder and former member of the Board of Directors of the Institute for 21st Century Relationships/the Foundation of the National Coalition for Sexual Freedom. She is also a past board member of the National Coalition for Sexual Freedom. Anita has presented educational programs on polyamory and family/relationship choice at Woodhull Sexual Freedom Summit, Momentum con, Poly Living, Loving More Retreats, Atlanta Poly Retreat (Keynote), Transcending Boundaries, Washington Area Secular Humanists, Good Vibrations, The Floating World, Sex 2.0, Dark Odyssey, Black Rose, Fetfest, Southeast Leather Fest, Building Bridges, Free Spirit Beltane Gathering, Florida Poly Retreat, and to a variety of alternative sexual and relationship organizations. She has keynoted and been a featured speaker at polyamory conferences and pride celebrations and has authored articles on polyamory and bisexuality. Anita has appeared on television in interviews on polyamory in Washington, DC and Baltimore and in news articles in The New York Times, Newsweek, the Baltimore Sun, Washington Post, BBC and Salon.com, amongst many others.

With a Ph.D. in Sociology,[1] 15 years of teaching[2] and research experience,[3] and certifications as a Guardian Ad Litem/Court Appointed Special Advocate[4] and a sexuality educator,[5] Dr. Elisabeth Sheff has the education, experience, and credentials to provide flawless legal and educational consultation. Dr. Sheff is the foremost academic and legal expert on polyamory in the United States, and the worldwide expert on polyamorous families. Her academic research has focused on sexual minorities and their families. Dr. Sheff’s Polyamorous Families study followed poly families with children for 15 years, tracing the evolution of the families and the progress of the children. This unparalleled study has resulted in numerous professional and academic publications. In her Overlapping Identities and Are You Kinky? studies, Dr. Sheff examined the intersections between and among unconventional sexual identities, including swingers, kinksters (people who practice BDSM or sadomasochism), and polyamorists.

Dr. Sheff is widely recognized by her peers and the media as an international expert in polyamory and BDSM. She served as the chair of the Sexual, Behavior, Politics, and Communities Division for the Society for the Study of Social Problems (SSSP) from In addition to serving as the polyamory expert and IRB compliance specialist for the Community Academic Alliance for Research on Alternative Sexualities (CARAS), Dr. Sheff founded the online research community PolyResearchers that has grown to include 327 members in 17 different countries and 16 different fields.

Her extensive media interviews include national outlets like Newsweek, The Boston Globe, and National Public Radio, and international sources such as Semana magazine in Columbia, Mente e Cervello (the Italian edition of Scientific American), Elle magazine in Quebec, and the Sunday London Times. In addition to appearing in the National Geographic television series Taboo episode entitled “Odd Couples” and the documentary BDSM: Education and Experience, Dr. Sheff has provided background information for several television shows including the Discovery Channel’s I’m Pregnant And…, andthe Canadian National Television series The Bigger Picture as well as numerous interviews with online magazines like Momlogic.com and Seattle Met, and podcasts like Polyamory Weekly and How Stuff Works.

Dr. Sheff has the expertise, training, experience, credentials and education to provide effective testimony regarding gender, families, sexuality, communities, and especially on the families of sexual minorities and unconventional relationships. She also possesses rare knowledge useful to counselors, therapists, nurses, and lawyers, as well as the teaching experience necessary to present the information in an interesting and accessible format.